Turtle Beach Elite 800X Headset Review

Performance

Setting up this headset was no trouble at all, if I had to commend Turtle Beach on one thing about this headset, it would be how easy it is to set up. I remember the days of having audio splitter cables and all kinds of madness going on, this was just a couple of simple connections, a single tap of the pair button and bam! It was done. For a premium grade headset, I wouldn’t have expected anything less, but it’s certainly beginner friendly overall.

The controls on the headset are very easy to access, but you may find yourself trying to remember which one is game volume, which is chat volume. A couple of times I’ve gone to change profiles and ended up triggering Bluetooth. This is only a temporary issue though, a couple of uses and you won’t give a second through to where any of the controls are and again, they’re super easy to access and use, meaning you will rarely have to pause your game to make adjustments.

On-ear, the headset is very comfortable to wear. It feels a little heavy in your hand, which is no surprise given the range of wireless tech in there, batteries aren’t known to be lightweight. However, once it’s on your head, it feels very well-balanced and close-fitting. The padding is super soft and provides a clean fit around your ears, helping block external noise and keeping your game audio in.

Premium fit, easy to use, but how does it sound? Fortunately, the 800X doesn’t disappoint at all. The clarity is fantastic, bringing out lots of detail that those with good quality surround sound would be familiar with. There’s a lot of presence to the sound, with thundering low-end bass, crunchy mids and pin-sharp high notes while listening to movies and music. When gaming, the headset really comes into its element, especially is you use features such as Super Human Hearing. The super hearing mode sounds pretty unrealistic, but the boosted footsteps of your enemies is something that’s going to appeal to competitive gamers; every little advantage helps in the heat of battle.

The surround modes are superb, bringing out some impressive and very convincing effects. However, I still think the punchier sound of the stereo modes sound better, but I have no doubt you’ll find a setting that is to your liking. The inclusion of the Android app is just a cherry on top, as it makes it a lot quicker and clearer to pick your favourite profile.

One thing that really stands out, or should I say, doesn’t stand out at all! Is the microphone. You may have noticed this headset has no boom mic, but instead it has discrete pin-hole microphones used for noise cancellation and chat. I wasn’t expecting much from hidden mics, but I am humbled to admit that they sound bright and clear for in-game chat and the noise cancellation does work great, but barely feels required given the close fit of the ear cups; still a nice feature to have though.